Under the tutelage of his lifelong teacher, Dominique Derain, Julien Altaber fell in love with this place and this work and has planted him here ever since.

As we continue to roll through 2022, we're getting a better and better grasp on the 2021 vintage, which turned out to be at least a practical nightmare for nearly everyone. A very tricky year, but just as harsh terrain can make for more perfect grapes, a trying vintage shows the prowess of a seasoned winemaker like Mr. Altaber, who hasn't had an easy time with Burgundian weather these past few years. While 2020 didn't present quite as many hurdles as 2021, the capriciousness of each season presents maybe the greatest strain of all. At long last, it seems the wines from 2020 are ready and singing.

His very first wine harvest, at the age of 16, was in his current home of St. Aubin. Under the tutelage of his lifelong teacher, Dominique Derain, Julien fell in love with this place and this work and has planted him here ever since. He's not quite 16 anymore, so he's come to know the place as well as anyone, and moreso by dint of his adherence to Dominique's hands-off philosophy. Julien has really innovated and pushed things forward with his Sextant project (for legal reasons, it's simply the eponymous Julien Altaber in the states). The wines are completely untouched by any intervention, and are as transparent a look at the burgundian terroir as any in the region.